"I was Harvard Law Review. I was chief counsel of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Prior to that, I was an appellate advocate for Hartshorn and Slaughter, one of the most prestigious litigation boutiques in all New York City."

Prior to becoming the Atlantis Expedition's leader, Woolsey served as an agent for the NID, regularly clashing with personnel associated with Stargate Command. He later joined the International Oversight Advisory, becoming the United States representative and also an ally to the SGC, having gained respect for the SGC's flagship team, SG-1.

Woolsey was later appointed the United States ambassador to the International Oversight Advisory. He was in charge of deciding the fate of Khalek, the "son" of Anubis. Instead of putting him in a Stasis pod, or killing him like the rest of the team wanted to, he and the IOA felt it would be necessary to study him, as his evolutionary state was similar to the Priors of the Ori, reasoning that studying Khalek might allow them to figure out a means of fighting against the Priors in the field. However, Woolsey's actions cost the life of several SGC personnel, and they were only able to kill Khalek at the last minute as he approached Ascension. He approached Dr.Daniel Jackson for his forgiveness, but Jackson didn't give it to him. (SG1: "Prototype")

He accompanied International Oversight Advisory members Shen Xiaoyi, Jean LaPierre, and Russel Chapman on a tour of the Gamma Site. After a carnivorous species of insect called R-75 escaped, he demanded that SG-1 escort the IOA members to the Gamma Site research station until ColonelStewart Pearson and his men dealt with the situation. When it was clear that the Gamma Site had fallen and the bugs were chasing them, they headed for a nearby cave. After a night in the cave, they headed for the research station to get a signal to the Odyssey to inform them they were still alive. When one of the representatives was bothering Carter in her work, Woolsey told him to shut up. They were beamed aboard just as the bugs were about to overrun the research station. Later, Woolsey discussed the events with the team and General Landry, saying it had been an eye-opening experience for him and that while the IOA officially complains a lot, they have nothing but good things to say about the team unofficially. (SG1: "The Scourge")

When a pair of WraithHive ships learned of the location of Earth, Woolsey was among the delegation that debriefed Dr.Elizabeth Weir on her actions leading up to the predicament. He was then dispatched to Atlantis to review Weir's competence as leader of the Atlantis expedition. While there, he aggressively questioned each one of Weir's decisions, and made a poor impression on the expedition members (Lt. ColonelJohn Sheppard expressed a rather strong desire to assault Woolsey). However, Woolsey's report concluded that Weir was qualified to remain as leader of the expedition with him even altering it somewhat so it put her in an even better light. (ATL: "No Man's Land", "Misbegotten")

He later returned to Atlantis to negotiate with the newly returned Ancients. They forced the team to leave the city but allowed him to stay on as a liaison. The Ancients quickly grew tired of Woolsey, and recalled Major GeneralJack O'Neill to help. Woolsey was there when the Asurans captured Atlantis, but managed to escape into a damaged section of the city with O'Neill while the Ancients were murdered. He remained hidden with O'Neill and worried that he was going to die due to his inexperience. He later remained behind whilst O'Neill went to drain a Jumper bay of water for the Lt. ColonelJohn Sheppardteam's rescue, and when the Asurans arrived to capture them, Woolsey put up a surprisingly good fight - as indicated by the number of shell-casings strewn around the area in which he was captured - but was captured and later interrogated. Unlike O'Neill he was unable to resist the mind-probe interrogation, and the Asurans got the team's plan from his mind, but it was later revealed that the team had used his vulnerability to the mind-probe to pass on deliberate misinformation about their plans to the Asurans. As a result, the Asurans were caught off-guard by the real plan- they believed the expedition were planning to blow up Atlantis' shield generators when in fact they had reprogrammed the shields to generate a Replicator disruptor wave- and were destroyed. Woolsey was annoyed to be used in that manner, but O'Neill comforted him with the fact that he was actually useful for something during the crisis. (ATL: "The Return, Part 1", "The Return, Part 2")

Later on, Woolsey returned to Atlantis to write a three-month review of ColonelSamantha Carter's command. He promised not to interfere this time, and admitted that his own personal review revealed that he could be overzealous with his job. He expressed distrust of the Wraith and attempted to take command of the base to force Lt. ColonelJohn Sheppard to destroy the two Hive ships in orbit. Carter countermanded his order, and ultimately the two Hive ships destroyed each other. This experience caused Woolsey to realize that he was in the habit of including too much into his reports, and subsequently apologized to Carter, agreeing that he wouldn't report Carter's decision to not have Sheppard fire due to her acting upon a hunch. (ATL: "The Seer")

One of his first things he did was replace the table in the Atlantis conference room with a 12 foot long mahogany table. He went to Atlantis to do things by the book. However, during his first week on the job, he broke half a dozen basic safety protocols, just to save Dr.Jennifer Keller's life. He wondered if he was to remain commander. After learning that Woolsey could also break the rules, Lt. ColonelJohn Sheppard shook his hand, and welcomed him to the Pegasus galaxy. (ATL: "The Seed")

Woolsey got annoyed by Ronon Dex's failure to do mission reports and even gave him a Digital recorder to do them. However, Atlantis was invaded by Michael Kenmore and Woolsey was knocked out by the Stun bubble. He came to after Ronon and Amelia Banks broke out of the room and took care of the guard and joined Ronon in rescuing Teyla Emmagan despite Ronon's orders to stay behind. Woolsey managed to get Teyla out of the room while Ronon was attacking Michael, but got knocked out by the Stun bubble again trying to get to safety and fell down some stairs. After Michael was finally defeated and killed, Woolsey, his arm in a sling, visited Ronon in the infirmary and told him how he had inspired him with his courage. Ronon gave him the recorder with his mission report on the invasion and Woolsey was amused to discover it was a quick verbal summary of what happened, but seemed to accept it. (ATL: "The Prodigal")

He later came under evaluation of his command by Shen Xiaoyi that was told if she got him fired, she'd get his command. Apparently at first he didn't like the idea of commanding Atlantis, but had come to enjoy it and wasn't going to give it up without a fight. Apparently they wanted to get rid of him as he no longer did things completely by the book. He also became friendly with Dr.Vanessa Conrad, a new member of the expedition that had arrived recently on the Apollo and had to make a decision whether or not to take the database of the Sekkari seed carrier, which would doom the race that could be rebuilt from it, or transport it to another planet where it could rebuild its race. Ultimately he learned that Conrad was in fact a manifestation of the Sekkari artificial intelligence who wanted to evaluate the kind of man he was and then ask for help. She explained the history of the Sekkari race and pleaded with him to transport the carrier to another world as it was the Sekkari's last hope to rebuild. He ultimately decided to have it transported by the Apollo to a suitable world and as a thank you gift, the AI helped save his job. (ATL: "Remnants")

When he first appeared, Woolsey appeared to be simply another example of the usual political adversaries faced by SG-1, apparently more concerned with making sure Stargate Command remained within its budget and helped Earth benefit without giving any apparent thought to the lives they had saved throughout the galaxy. However, as time went on, Woolsey has developed beyond his original role; he quickly showed that he was willing to question Vice PresidentRobert Kinsey's motives rather than blindly accepting his perspective of events, and has more than once edited his reports to show events in a more favourable light for the benefit of those concerned. (SG1: "Heroes, Part 2", "Inauguration") (ATL: "No Man's Land", "The Seer")

Since becoming Atlantis's commander, although selected because it was felt to be time for Atlantis to withdraw from its role in affairs in the Pegasusgalaxy, he has continued to develop as a person, more than once agreeing to potentially risky plans simply for the sake of helping the individual rather than making the more 'expedient' decision that would have resulted in people dying. He has also admitted to having developed some admiration for his new associates, such as commenting that he admired Ronon Dex's courage despite the other man's typically anti-authoritative nature. He didn't start out like this, trying to do things by the book right off the bat, but after dealing with a crisis in his first day as commander unconventionally and finding that the IOA supported his decisions, he seemed to realize he didn't need to be so rigid with his leadership and relaxed a bit. He has also started displaying courage in the face of danger: when confronted by the Asurans, he fought back and apparently put up a good fight given the shell casings found at the scene, he risked his life in an attempt to help Teyla escape and when given the choice between fighting with the Wraith to the death to protect Earth or saving himself and the city, he chose to continue fighting. (ATL: "The Return, Part 2", "The Seed", "The Shrine", "The Prodigal", "Remnants", "Enemy at the Gate")